Bezos remains top of Forbes rich list

Jeff Bezos remains the world’s richest person, ahead of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, according to the latest Forbes list of the ultra wealthy.
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Jeff Bezos remains the world’s richest person, ahead of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, according to the latest Forbes list of the ultra wealthy.

But while things are largely stable up top in that ranking, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg dropped three spots and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg rose by two.

According to the list announced on Tuesday by Forbes, Bezos's wealth has swelled by $19bn (R268.6bn) in one year and he is now worth $131bn (R1.85-trillion).

Bezos, who holds 16% of Amazon and whose wealth now makes him a target of the left wing of the US Democratic Party, has widened the money gap between himself and philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

Gates has seen his wealth grow to $96.5bn (R1.36-trillion), up from $90bn (R1.27trillion) in 2018, Forbes said.

Third place is held by Buffett – long considered an investment guru, he did get stung in late February by a deep plunge in shares of US processed food maker Kraft Heinz, in which he had money.

Bloomberg rose from 11th to ninth place on the list as his fortune increased to $55.5bn (R785.3bn), from $50bn (R707.5bn), Forbes said.

Americans still dominate the list, with 14 of the top 20 billionaires from the US.

Non-Americans among the top 20 richest people in the world include India’s Reliance Industries chair Mukesh Ambani in 13th place, and Chinese internet giant Tencent head Ma Huateng, who rounds out the top 20.